The best weapon in every class

How we ranked these

One rule: how long from the first hit to the target falling, against a bare chest with standard rounds. Every number below is what our TTK rankings return.

We have then argued with the ranking wherever the fastest gun is not the one we would buy, because price and handling decide more fights than a hundredth of a second does.

Shotgun: MP43

MP43

01

Shotgun · 12 Gauge · 900 RPM

The cheapest instant kill in the game.

One hundred and eighty damage against a hundred health. Anything unarmored that you hit cleanly is dead before it knows the fight started.

The M500 does exactly the same damage for $1,200 and fires at 120 rounds per minute against the MP43's 900. We cannot construct an argument for it.

Vendor price

$400

Chest, unarmored

1 shot

Head, unarmored

1 shot

Damage per pull

180

Rate of fire

900 rpm

Price

$400

MP43 statsRun the numbers

Assault rifle: FAL

FAL

02

Assault Rifle · .308 Win · 650 RPM

A battle rifle wearing an assault rifle's label.

Sixty damage a shot out of a .308 case. The 5.56 rifles manage 28. Two to the chest, one to the head, and an 800 metre effective range that no other rifle in the class approaches.

It costs $5,500 and it is worth it if you can keep it alive. Every other assault rifle needs four chest shots.

Vendor price

$5,500

Chest, unarmored

2 shots · 0.09s

Head, unarmored

1 shot

Damage per shot

60.0

Effective range

800 m

Price

$5,500

FAL statsRun the numbers

If $5,500 is out of reach, the T-21 at $600 does the same 28 damage as the $2,800 M4 at 750 rounds per minute instead of 800. That is 0.24 seconds against 0.23, for $2,200 less.

SMG: Super-45

Super-45

03

SMG · .45 ACP · 1200 RPM

The fastest thing in the game that is not a shotgun.

Twelve hundred rounds a minute firing .45. Four to the chest in 0.15 seconds and two to the head in 0.05, which beats every rifle in the game.

The catch is the caliber. Effective range is 50 metres, so this is a building gun and nothing else.

Vendor price

$2,600

Chest, unarmored

4 shots · 0.15s

Head, unarmored

2 shots · 0.05s

Rate of fire

1200 rpm

Caliber

.45 ACP

Price

$2,600

Super-45 statsRun the numbers

The AMP-9 at $900 is the budget answer at five chest shots in 0.27 seconds. It is the gun we hand to anyone who has just spawned broke.

Marksman rifle: SKS

The SVD is the fastest in class at two chest shots in 0.13 seconds, and the BMR-308 hits hardest at 78 damage a shot.

We buy the SKS. It also kills in two chest shots, it also takes a bare head off in one, and it costs $2,400 against the SVD's $4,800 and the BMR-308's $6,000. The gap is 0.14 seconds against 0.13.

Paying $2,400 extra for one hundredth of a second is the kind of decision this game is built to punish.

Sniper: Mosin Nagant

Mosin Nagant

04

Sniper · 7.62x54mm · 46 RPM

Everything the expensive bolt guns do, for less.

The SV98 costs $5,200 and does identical damage. The MK22 costs $6,400 and does 87. All three kill a bare chest in two and a bare head in one.

Load flesh rounds and the Mosin one-shots a bare chest outright, and one-shots the pelvis through Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 armor.

Vendor price

$4,500

Chest, unarmored

2 shots

Head, unarmored

1 shot

Damage per shot

79.8

Muzzle velocity

865 m/s

Price

$4,500

Mosin Nagant statsRun the numbers

The AMR 50 is the real king at $8,800: 155 damage to the chest means a one-shot kill on anyone unarmored, and 342 to the head. It also fires at 41.5 rounds per minute, so missing is expensive.

Pistol: M1911

The GGX 18 is fastest at 1200 rounds per minute, five chest shots in 0.20 seconds. We still take the M1911.

Three hundred dollars for a three-shot kill. A sidearm exists because your primary ran dry at the worst moment, and in that moment what you want is damage per trigger pull rather than a fast empty magazine.

The Deagle is the exception worth $900: one shot to a bare head at 102.9 damage.

LMG: M249 SAW

Only two machine guns are worth listing. The M249 SAW costs $3,200, fires 5.56 at 850 rounds per minute and kills a bare chest in four shots in 0.21 seconds, which is faster than every assault rifle except the FAL.

The PKM costs $4,500 and fires 7.62x54 for 57.8 a shot, killing in two. It is the harder hitter and the one we would take onto a fixed position.

Neither is a gun you take somewhere you have to move quickly.

If you only remember one thing

The cheap options are much closer to the expensive ones than the price tags suggest. A $600 T-21 is a hundredth of a second behind a $2,800 M4. A $2,400 SKS is a hundredth behind a $6,000 BMR-308.

Spend the difference on armor and ammunition. That is where the fights actually turn.